Beyond NoSleep: Horror Fiction Podcasts You'll Love

If you, like so many of us, have gone through the entire NoSleep catalogue & now worry that your life will have no meaning - rejoice! For countless other horror fiction podcasts exist, & a couple of them are really, really good. To help you separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, here are my current faves. In order from 'yeah, this one's solid' to 'Jesus H that's scary.'

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Tales to Terrify

This show has been around since 2012, faithfully churning out weekly episodes, even after the death of host Lawrence Santoro. The classics are well represented here; Santoro's expert narration of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Colour Out of Space" is a particular standout.  While some listeners might find the excess host chatter off-putting, it came to feel like a weekly visit to a friend's house to hear stories told by the fire.

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Nightmare Magazine

This podcast, & the magazine that spawned it, has fast become my go-to for the more experimental side of horror fiction. The stories are expertly curated, the editors giving voice to some of the best international, queer & POC writers around. 

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Knifepoint Horror

You want to creep yourself out good? Sit down somewhere dark & quiet, preferably outdoors, & put on an episode of Knifepoint Horror. Any ol' episode will do - these stories are uniformly great. Perhaps that's because they're all written by the same person. While tragically not prolific, Soren Narnia crafts some of the most starkly chilling stories I've ever heard, & the narration feels like someone is whispering dark secrets into your ear. When the odd new episode is dropped it's like a national holiday at my house.

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Those are my faves, but there are lots of horror fiction podcasts worth your time -Pseudopod, Chilling Tales for Dark Nights & The Simply Scary Podcast, among many others. Like Levar Burton said, you don't have to take my word for it. Check them out yourself. And sleep tight...

Best Horror Movies of 2016: Amy's Picks

Are you sick of Best of the Year Lists yet? I hope not, because I've been putting mine off as long as possible. But for the best possible reason, I swear! There's no denying it has been a banner yeah for horror. In addition to being some of the highest-grossing films of the year, we saw a flood of critically acclaimed horror offerings stepping out of their midnight slots to become festival favorites. There have been so many flipping fantastic horror movies in 2016 that I've got a great list here for you even though I still haven't gotten to see Raw, Train to Busan or Demon. And I've probably missed a bunch of others. An embarrassment of riches, 2016. And since we know the greatest horror films are made during times of social upheaval, it looks like 2017 is going to produce even more riches. So, we've got that going for us. Anyway, here you go. And just to make it more difficult on myself, they're in order...

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10. The Monster

This was a late addition to the list, knocking Green Room out of my top ten. Why? On the surface it's a creature feature in the most traditional & satisfying sense. I'm sure you'll be as psyched as I was to find that the monster is an actual person in a costume. That alone would almost be enough to earn the movie a spot on my list, but the heartbreakingly realistic mother-daughter relationship that is revealed through well placed flashbacks gives it an added layer of pathos that elevates it to something really special.

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9. The Greasy Strangler

Bless this movie's weird little heart. I haven't seen anything this gleefully nutty in a long time. Never thought I would consider a movie filled with grease & penises to be refreshing, but here we are.

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8. The ABCs of Death 2.5

Another unexpected surprise, this anthology featured more new talent than a year's worth of horror convention screenings, all trying their very hardest & all seeming to have a blast doing so. Almost every short is a winner, which is more than can be said for the previous offerings in the series. 

Listen to our episode on The ABCs of Death 2.5

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7. The Invitation

The Invitation answers the age-old question "Could this party possibly get any worse?" Yes, my friends, it could. Great performances & expert direction put us on edge almost immediately, despite the deliberate pace & slow build. This is a great return to form for Karyn Kusama, whose last couple films were ruined by studio interference. I can't wait to see what she does next.

Listen to our episode on The Invitation

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6. Under the Shadow

Last year we had A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, which explored the role of women in the middle east. This year we have a more straightforward but no less fascinating depiction of the same topic. Some of the special effects missed the mark, but Under the Shadow ultimately succeeds in using the supernatural to make us feel the real horrors of war & oppression.

Listen to our episode on Under the Shadow

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5. I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives In the House

This movie about a Shirley Jackson-esque author has the feel of one of her books. It's quiet, understated & eerie, & while not much happens, it casts a kind of spell on you. While admittedly not suited to everyone's taste, it worked for me like wow.

Listen to our episode on Pretty Thing

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4. Baskin

Not since Hellraiser & Event Horizon have we gotten such a visceral & horrifying glimpse into hell. You wouldn't think the humor or the sing along scene would work with that, but it totally does. If you haven't seen it I'm sure that sounds ridiculous, but you're just gonna have to trust me.

Listen to our episode on Baskin

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3. Darling 

If you're going to make an homage picture, you could certainly do worse than Repulsion. As uneven as Mickey Keating's other movies have been, this one feels like it popped out of his head fully-formed. Every sound, every flickering shot & every change in expression from the excellent Lauren Ashley Carter contributes to one unnerving little movie.

Listen to our episode on Darling

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2. The Eyes of My Mother

One of the coolest things about horror movies in 2016 is how many great first features we saw. Six out of the ten on this very list in fact, including the top two. Nicholas Pesce came seemingly out of nowhere & dropped this gorgeous movie on us, which gives us a look at the making of a psychopath from her own point of view. 

Listen to our episode on The Eyes of My Mother

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1. The Witch

What's left to say about The Witch? Praise has been heaped all over this movie like so much chopped wood falling on your dad's head. So allow me to remind you about the scene pictured here. Remember this part? How chillingly ambiguous it is about whether the boy is actually being delivered from suffering by God or is only mocking his family's piety? That's powerful stuff. What makes The Witch an instant classic is that nearly every scene in the movie is just as powerful as this one. 

Listen to our episode on The Witch

Best Horror of 2016: Eddie's Picks

Our man Eddie is a man of few words. However, he did take the time to put together a "best of 2016" list so do yourselves a favor and read through his few, but poignant, words. Unless you're a total jabroni and don't like lists...

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The Boy

Yep, the doll movie. SHUT UP! DON'T JUDGE ME, I LIKED IT! It is a silly movie with a loose plot and a strange twist, but it's all done in an amazing setting.

Don't Breathe

Oh shit! Super turbo blind guy smashes invading teens intent on robbing his home. Really fun watch with a twist that delighted and disgusted me.

Rats

Morgan Spurlock's "documentary" on the ever-growing rat population of our cities genuinely creeped me out. Mainly it was all the parasites shown that infest these little bastards. Bot flies...woof!

Late Night Cable

Friend of the show, Andrew Shearer, released an anthology film this year called "Late Night Cable" and it featured a short done by his pre pre-school daughter. It's just her running around filming things with some spooky music added to it. By far the most original thing I've seen this year and I'm totally a sucker for kiddos.

10 Cloverfield Lane

John fucking Goodman. That is all.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe

This one hit my sweet spot by not being too smart or too dumb. It was a fun adventure that felt like a mash-up of CSI, Columbo, and The Goonies - all in a strange (but fun!) way.

ABC's of Death 2.5

What a treat this compilation film was. Incredibly fun shorts full of blood splatter, demons, heavy metal, hookers, big-wheel motorcycle gangs, and Elvis impersonators.

Baskin

Turkey's horror offering, Baskin, didn't disappoint at all. This freak show of a movie was so exciting and over-the-top, I have recommended it to all my strong-stomached horror friends.

The Invitation

The Invitation unnerved me more than any other movie I watched this year. This bottle horror suspense fest shattered my nerves by the end, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

The Witch

This masterpiece comes in at #1 for me. It had it all, from a devil-goat to a naked wild witch party in the woods. This film was crafted with love and it shows.

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